THE BETRAYAL OF JUDAS (On Sacrilegious Communion)

If you are in a state of mortal sin, you must not receive Holy Communion unless you have first made a good confession to a Catholic priest. Whoever receives Holy Communion in a state of mortal sin, as St. Paul teaches, eats and drinks his own condemnation. In order to receive Holy Communion, you must confess in the Sacrament of Penance all the mortal sins committed since your last good confession (made with true contrition and a firm purpose of amendment).

DISCIPLE. — Why is sacrilegious Communion called “the betrayal of Judas”?

MASTER. — You already know that Judas, driven by greed and fascinated by the offers made by the scribes and Pharisees, resolved to sell Jesus for the paltry and vile price of thirty pieces of silver.

D. — Yes, Father, I know that.

M. — Well then, having concluded that infamous bargain, he offered to accompany the henchmen who were to seize the Divine Master and hand Him over to them.

Knowing that Jesus was praying in the Garden of Olives, he joined the henchmen and said to them as he entered: “Be careful not to make a mistake! The One I kiss on the forehead is Jesus. Seize Him and bind Him.”

Meanwhile, Jesus, hearing the noise, stepped forward. And Judas—the traitor Judas—although deep within his heart he felt the pangs of a guilty conscience warning him, also approached, embraced Him, and kissed Him, saying: “Hail, Rabbi! Greetings, Master!”

The greatest sacrilege the ages had ever witnessed was now accomplished! Judas withdrew and, in despair, went and hanged himself from the branch of a tree.

D. — Oh, how wicked Judas was!

M. — Yes, Judas was wicked; but those who approach Holy Communion unworthily are even worse. Judas committed sacrilege only once, whereas these people repeat it frequently, and for that reason they are far worse than Judas.

D. — What are you saying, Father? You frighten me!

M. — It is indeed something to be horrified by, but it is the reality. You see, in most cases, those who have committed sacrilege for the first time almost instinctively become accustomed to it. Once they have betrayed Jesus Christ, they betray Him a second time, a third time, a hundred times, perhaps for years on end, and who knows, even until death, imitating Judas to the letter.

Like Judas, they know perfectly well that Jesus Christ is truly and really present in the Most Holy Eucharist. They enter the church and approach the Communion rail, just as Judas approached Jesus. They wait for Him to be brought near by the hands of the priest, and then, with a conscience plunged into terrible anguish by the torment of remorse, they give Jesus the kiss of sacrilege.

D. — Wretched souls!

M. — Most wretched indeed, you should say! Listen:

When Jesus, at the Last Supper, rebuked the Apostles, telling them that soon one of those seated at table with Him, the one who dipped his bread into His dish, would betray Him, He exclaimed, referring to Judas: “It would have been better for him had he never been born.”

Then it would have been a thousand times better had sacrilegious communicants never been born, for then they would not have trampled upon the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, and there would have been fewer souls condemned to Hell.

You have surely read in Roman history the account of the Emperor Julius Caesar. This great emperor, called the lord of nations, who had greatly expanded and enriched his empire, was planning further conquests when his days came to an end at the hands of a terrible conspiracy plotted against him by those whom he had most favored. The ringleader of that conspiracy was a man named Brutus, whom Caesar regarded as a son and upon whom he had bestowed honors and rewards.

When Caesar found himself surrounded by rebels who, with daggers raised, sought to kill him, and when he saw his beloved Brutus among the foremost of them, brandishing his dagger, he exclaimed:

“Brutus, you too, my son?”

And, covering his face with his mantle, he fell, pierced by twenty-three dagger wounds.

Well then, every time Jesus sees a sacrilegious communicant approaching Holy Communion, He covers His face and cries out in terrible anguish:

“Is it you too, Christian, you whom I have redeemed at the price of My Blood, My most beloved child—is it you too who betray Me?”

— Oh, what horror, my God, what horror!

Rev. José Luis Chiavarino. Receive Holy Communion Worthily (Comulgad bien).